The Pittsburgh Penguins will be missing veteran defenseman Kris Letang for at least four weeks after he suffered a foot fracture. The team placed the 38-year-old on injured reserve just as they’re heading into the Olympic break.
It’s been a bounce-back year for Letang, who’s already put up 25 points in 50 games – a nice improvement from last season’s 30 points in 74 games. While that’s not quite the 40+ points fans are used to seeing from him, it’s still good enough for second place among Penguins defensemen, trailing only Erik Karlsson.
Letang’s been a workhorse for Pittsburgh, averaging more than 22 minutes of ice time per game. That’s pretty impressive – he’s kept up that heavy workload for 16 straight seasons.
The timing could’ve been worse, though. With the NHL’s Olympic break coming up, Letang might only miss five actual games.
This isn’t the only headache for Pittsburgh’s defense right now. They just lost Jack St. Ivany for a couple months after hand surgery. With Letang also out, they’re down to just six healthy defensemen.
The team will probably call someone up from their AHL affiliate in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. For now, Connor Clifton’s getting back in the lineup after sitting out the last week.
There’s still some mystery around Letang’s injury. He missed two games last week with an undisclosed problem, but it’s not clear if this foot fracture is related or something completely new.
If everything goes according to plan with his recovery, the three-week Olympic shutdown means the Penguins won’t be without their star defenseman for too many games. But if that foot takes longer to heal than expected, the team might have to manage without him well into the spring.
